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Why we didn't joint protest of president

Why didn't you join with other newspapers Thursday in protesting the president's use of "enemy of the people" when referring to newspapers?

We got that question Friday from a reader. We think it's a good question and she, and you, deserve an answer.

The truth is, we didn't want to waste our time. President Donald Trump has shown disdain for the press since long before he was elected, and we don't think that's going to stop any time soon. We're not going to argue the merits of his claims because we don't care what he thinks. You see, we're a community paper.

In reality, what the president says will have little effect on us, or on you. Talk is cheap. Everyone can do it. That's what the first amendment to the constitution guarantees. Doesn't mean we have to listen. And we're not, at least, not much.

We're much more concerned with what's going on around here. What our city councils and city managers and aldermen and mayors are doing matters a lot more than blustery talk coming out of Washington or New York or Los Angeles.

We're concerned with who won the Cookeville-Upperman football game Friday night. We wonder how Tennessee Tech's new football coach will do. Is this the year the Titans win the Super Bowl? What play are they doing for "Shakespeare in the Park" this fall?

Will the new city council in Cookeville get along? When will the new Cookeville Police Station be complete? Why were there police cars three houses up the road last night? Who got married last week? Who got promoted last week?

What's Monterey's new park like? How soon will Algood's proposed new city park be open? Who won the Algood council election? How are they going to solve the school traffic problems at the Baxter Crossroads? When will stores in the new shopping center open?

How secure are our schools? What were the final attendance numbers at the fair?

When is the new fitness building at Tech going to be completed and opened. Same question for the new science building under construction. What is playing at CPAC?

When will property tax bills be mailed? Who bought and sold property in Putnam County last week? How much did they pay?

Who's got a car for sale? Can I sell my car? Or house? Or boat? Or houseboat?

Get the picture?

We understand why some papers would want to tackle this issue head on. We just choose to concentrate on you and what's going on around you. If we didn't cover the things that really matter to our community, then we really would be an "enemy of the people."